The Ties That Bind
by GiveItToMeSlowly
Summary: If you're pulled two ways, soon enough you'll be torn. Love Triangle. Kaneda x Kaori x Tetsuo


Bright lights, hot girls, and good drugs; in this, the underbelly of Neo-Tokyo thrives.

Friday nights were what the boys of the Capsule gang lived for. Kaneda, Tetsuo, Kai, and Yamagata regularly met up at the Harukiya at dusk with various materials essential for a good time, ranging from chicks to pills to cheap vodka. Kaneda had recently developed a thing for bottle blondes and heroine, of which the rest of the gang followed suit in interest.

"Finally over that nurse kink, huh?" Yamagata chuckles slyly, slapping a heavy hand on Kaneda's shoulder.

"That crazy bitch tried to pin me as her baby daddy," Kaneda sighs theatrically. "Like hell I'd tap it before I wrap it!"

The rest of the group laughs and Kaneda feels a flash of self-satisfaction warm his chest. This is the shit that fuels him, the laughter of friends in a dank, dismal bar they had no business being in in the first place. Too young, too wild, the fleeting lightness of true freedom barely escaping through fisted fingers; this is what they are, what they're meant to be. And it's gonna last, Kaneda tells himself. He would bet everything on it, you know? Because Kaneda is never wrong. Never.

At this point, the boys hang back in the alley behind the bar for a smoke and Kaneda reasons that he's drunk enough to keep smiling through anything. He tells the rest of 'em to go back inside, have another drink, he'll be just a minute! He promises, he promises…

And then, the asphalt is rushing up to meet his face very suddenly.

Kaneda smiles into the ground because the nerves in his face don't know any better. He's perfectly content with leaving his face planted in the ground; red flowers would bloom in and around his skull, making a pretty point of focus in the otherwise dilapidated surroundings. Yes, this is all well and good until the patter of nervous footsteps shatter Kaneda's glassy musings.

"K-Kaneda…?" A timid, almost shrill voice is carried on the cool night's breeze. Kaneda stirs in response, but this proves inadequate in appeasing the stranger's concern. A small hand is laid upon the center of his back, and Kaneda realizes this must be a chick because no man he knew would ever render themselves so vulnerable for a moment in touching him so softly. He lifts his head, a monumental task in itself, and meets a hazy, familiar face.

Lips parted and pink like an angel, dark hair in a state of near-constant disarray, wide-eyed gaze perpetually innocent; Kaori, in all of her shabby glory. Kaneda lifts his upper body up off the ground and balances on his elbows, meeting the girl's tentative gaze.

"What're you doing here, Kaori? Lookin' for Tetsuo?" Kaneda struggles against the inevitable slur of his words. "He's… Yeah, he's inside," He weakly raises an index finger in the direction of the back entrance of the bar.

"I… well, I figured. Do you need any help, Kaneda?" Her shaky hands are already reaching out again.

"Nah, I'm good! Go on inside, I'll be right behind ya," He tries to grin, but everything's coming off crooked and distorted. Kaori looks unconvinced, but abides anyway because Lord knows she's the kind of girl that abides everything. Kaneda knows this, and he wonders how a good girl like her got tied up with a guy like Tetsuo.

And, hell, if he's being honest he wonders if he could get himself tied up with a girl like her.

Running with cougars and trashy blondes and shacking up with the school nurse was fun shit to do and then tell your friends about later, no doubt. But girls like Kaori? They were a delicacy among guys like Kaneda and the gang. A virgin; you could see her delicate flower petals quivering from a mile away. The drunk thoughts itched in Kaneda's mind; had Tetsuo plucked away those dainty petals yet?

Kaneda lifts his head, his unabashedly sensuous train of thought broken at the sight of Kaori swaying in the entrance way.

"He's gone; I think they all left," She leans against a wall and sighs "I don't know what to do now…"

Kaneda is on his feet in seconds, sobering up like it's nothing. "I'll take you home."

"Huh? Oh, no, Kaneda, I think you've had too much to drink…"

"I'm fine." He steps toward her, half heartedly reaching out to take her hand; she shies away.

"It's okay, I can walk. Really." Kaori weaves her arms around herself and Kaneda realizes she's uncomfortable, afraid even.

"Why are you always so shy? I've known you for years and here I am offering you a ride home and you act like I'm some stranger that's gonna…!" Kaneda clenches and unclenches his fists in frustration, to which Kaori quickly turns and starts walking.

"Kaori!" Kaneda calls out harsher than he intends to, then breathes softly. "Kaori…"

She turns on her heel, feigning irritation. "What?"

She's getting a little bold now; she'd never use that tone with Tetsuo, wouldn't dream of it; however, she knew she could get away with it with Kaneda. He thrived off confrontation.

"Please, just lemme give you a ride. I've sobered up, I'm all good," He puts his hands together akin to someone in prayer. "Tetsuo would kill me if he knew I let you walk home from this side of town."

Kaori relents. "Fine."

Anyway, she wasn't completely opposed to hugging her body against Kaneda's warmer, larger, leather-clad form; this wasn't something she planned to admit, of course.

They hop on the back of Kaneda's motorcycle and take off onto the sparkling streets of Neo-Tokyo at high speed. Kaneda revs his engine repeatedly and weaves skillfully in between cars caught in traffic; showing off, but this was nothing new.

They soon arrive at Kaori's dorm and Kaneda pulls around back.

"See? Nothing to be scared of," Kaneda grins as Kaori lifts herself off his bike.

"Yeah…" A whisper of a smile plays on her lips. Kaneda swears his heart skips a beat.

" _What the hell is wrong with me tonight?"_ He thinks to himself, brows furrowing inadvertently.

"Everything all right?" Kaori questions and tilts her head, a strand of hair falling in her face.

Kaneda lifts his hand without thinking and brushes the hair away from her face, his fingers resting ever so lightly against her cheek for but a moment. Her eyes widen a bit, gaze dropping to the ground. Her cheeks feel hot suddenly, like they're about to swell and burst.

Kaneda's hand quickly leaves Kaori's face upon realization of what he's doing. He drops his head. "Sorry 'bout that."

She doesn't speak for what seems like an eternity, then breathes in sharply. "You're a terrible flirt, Kaneda," She leans in and kisses him on the cheek, then scampers inside without another word.

The door slams and Kaneda's sits blank-faced on his bike, not registering what just happened. It takes him a minute before he can breathe again.

"Well, shit."


End file.
